Dana Fabe has had a varied, distinguished, and unique career as an attorney and judge in Alaska. In 1996, she became the first woman appointed to the Alaska Supreme Court. In 2000, she was elected as the first female Chief Justice and in 2006 initiated her second term as Chief Justice. She started her career as a law clerk for the Alaska Supreme Court in 1976, moving to a position as a staff attorney at the Alaska Public Defender Agency in 1977. Governor Jay Hammond appointed her as Chief Public Defender for Alaska in 1981. In 1988, she was first appointed as a judge, to the superior court in Anchorage, and subsequently served as the Deputy Presiding Judge and Training Judge for the Third Judicial District. Through the years, she has served on local, state, and national professional committees and in 2009 became President-Elect of the National Association of Women Judges. Along the way, she has mentored many young women attorneys and students.

In addition to her accomplishments on the bench and as an attorney, she has been active in a wide variety of community settings. She has trained young students as judges for the Youth Court, chaired the planning committee for the women’s reentry program, “Success Inside & Out”, at Hiland Mt. Correctional Center, traveled to large and small Alaskan communities to host the “Open court” public outreach program and served on the boards of Soroptomists and the Anchorage Museum of History and Art.

The key to her many accomplishments lies in her own words:” I’m a pretty good problem solver. I enjoy helping people resolve their disputes”.

Sources

1973 Cornell University, B.A.
1976 Northeastern Univ. School of Law, J.D.
The Women of Alaska, Vol. III, A Compilation of Interviews 1996-1997
ballotpedia.org/Dana_Fabe